The transcript:

Q: Do you think US or UN forces ought to have moved into Baghdad?

Cheney: No.

Q: Why not?

Cheney: Because if we would have gone into Baghdad we would have been all alone, there wouldn’t have been anyone with us, it would have been a US occupation of Iraq. None of the Arab forces who were willing to fight with us in Kuwait would have been willing to invade Iraq. Once you got into Iraq and took it over, took down Saddam Hussein’s government, then what are you going to put in its place? That’s a very volatile part of the world, and if you take down the central government of Iraq, you can easily see parts of Iraq begin to fly off: part of it the Syrians would like to have in the west, part of eastern Iraq the Iranians would like to claim – fought over it for eight years. In the north you have the Kurds; if the Kurds spin loose and join with the Kurds in Turkey then you’ve threatened the territorial integrity of Turkey.

It’s a quagmire if you go that far and try to take unintelligible…

The other thing was casualties. Everyone was impressed with the fact that we were able to do our job with as few casualties as we had; but for the 146 Americans killed in action and for their families it wasn’t a cheap war. And the question for the President in terms of whether we went on to Baghdad and took additional casualties in an effort to get Saddam Hussein was how many additional dead Americans was Saddam worth? And our judgment was, not very many. And I think we got it right.

Come on baby, wontcha take a chance
Your papa’s gonna show you a brand new dance
Come on down, now, dontcha be no drag,
And do that election year rag

It’s two steps to the left and two to the right
Then you stand in the middle and hold on tight
Shuffle on down, now–don’t you lag–
Do that election year rag.

Jump on that old band wagon,
now here’s what you’re gonna do:
Go down to your precinct captain’s house this mornin’
And scarf up some lame duck stew…

Don’t you cry, don’t shed no tears
You know it only comes around every four years
I’m your dark horse, and you’re my nag
Do that election year rag

If you feel like you need a score card
You really don’t have to fuss
Ya know the winner is always somebody else
And the loser is always us

Wontcha shake it to the east
Shake it to the west
Hand me down my bullet-proof vest
It’s nobody’s choice and it’s anybody’s guess
Do that election–(there ain’t no selection–)
Do that Election Year Rag!

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

“There’s a lot of people in the world who don’t believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren’t necessarily — are a different color than white can self-govern.”

Ah, I forgot. “We” Americans are white Christians. Now it all comes clear!

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. He didn’t create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it. And rather successfully. Cassius was right: ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.'”